Leftover bond money well-spent on school repairs

Wednesday

Jan 25, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 12, 2018 at 9:22 AM

We welcome actions by Austin school district trustees to award schools $16 million in leftover bond funds for renovations, repairs and maintenance. That money is sorely needed to fix up an aging fleet of schools. At this point, we have schools with faltering air-conditioning units, leaky roofs and pipes, and overcrowded classrooms. Such conditions are not ideal for learning.

In all, the district has about $19 million remaining from 2008 bond projects approved by voters. So after spending on schools, it will have about $3 million left. Using the money for major improvements fits with legal and ethical standards, but trustees also should establish accountability measures to ensure that every dollar is spent the way it is intended. The district has made the list of improvements public. Good. It should stick by it. Money should not be used for administrative purposes, but should be spent directly on the list of improvements.

We also appreciate the board's swift, unanimous action to prevent another rub to the East Austin community regarding IDEA Public Schools. Trustees, led by Annette LoVoi, were right to insist that Superintendent Meria Carstarphen treat schools equitably regarding use of bond money.

While the IDEA portion of the bond money is tiny, it is the most controversial spending on the list. Carstarphen directed that about $430,000 be used to fix up Allan Elementary specifically to house a charter school starting in August run by IDEA Public Schools based in far South Texas. Some of the money also would be used to improve Eastside Memorial High School, which is slated to host IDEA grades in future years. But Carstarphen failed to recommend money for similar improvements to Ortega and Govalle elementary schools, whose enrollments are expected to balloon with students whose families reject IDEA's program at Allan.

Carstarphen's misstep was a bad public relations move that threatened to reignite tensions over IDEA. Trustees were right to nip it in the bud.

In December, trustees split 6-3 on approving IDEA to take over Allan and eventually Eastside Memorial, over the strong opposition of many East Austin residents who wanted the district to use its resources on improving regular public schools in East Austin.

IDEA officials said Allan was not up to standards for their program and they needed certain things, including additional classrooms, to make it work. At some point, their request was wrapped into Carstarphen's bond contingency recommendations, but improvements to help Govalle and Ortega were not included.

The fallout over the board's December decision to outsource the education of many East Austin students to IDEA has fueled talk about a boycott of IDEA. At this point, it's anyone's guess whether IDEA will get hundreds of students or just dozens, and whether Govalle and Ortega are positioned to handle the overflow.

In making the assessment of what Ortega and Govalle will need, Carstarphen should not only focus on physical improvements to address higher enrollments but also on maintaining the quality of those schools. Both schools have earned high marks on state report cards. Carstarphen will bring those recommendations back to the board at a later time.

There is little controversy about the other items on the $16 million list. It includes $4.2 million to fix, renovate or replace roofs, and $3.8 million to overhaul or replace heating, air-conditioning and ventilation units. There are some units that could go out any day, leaving students in classrooms with extreme heat or cold. That is unacceptable. Plumbing repairs will cost about $1.4 million. Another $4.1 million will be used to ease overcrowding in North Central Austin schools. As part of that initiative, the district is planning a pre-kindergarten center at Dobie Middle School and expanding Webb Middle School to a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade campus, all to make room in a growing segment of the district.

As the district moves forward, it must be accountable for all of the contingency bond dollars it spends. If it's not, voters will not be so generous the next time they are asked to finance major school projects.

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